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DELIVERED 



01 THE 17th OF MARCH, 1819, 



.T WASHINGTON HALL. 



BEFORE THE 



FRIENDLY ASSOCIATION 



STEPHEN P. LEMOINE, ESQ. 




NEW-YORK : 

PRINTED BY G RATTAN AND BANKS, NASSAU-STREET, 



1819, 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 






http://www.archive.org/details/orationdeliveredOOIemo 



New-York, March 18, 181& 

Sit, 

Agreeably to a resolution of the Sham- 
rock Friendly Association, we have been deputed to 
present you with its thanks, and to convey to you its 
entire approbation of the Oration you yesterday de- 
livered. We are also directed to request a copy for 
publication. 

We saw, with pleasure, a native American entering 
deeply into feelings which made us forget that we 
were not listening to an Irishman. We witnessed a 
descendant of France dwelling with enthusiasm on 
the fate of the country of his fathers, and on that of 
our J s, modestly concealing the obligations due by 
Irishmen to a people among whom the persecuted 
children of Erin found, heretofore, a hospitable recep- 
tion, and a home. Before liberty opened the gates of 
America, France ivas the sure and best asylum of 
oppressed Irishmen. 

We are Sir, 
Your very obedient servants, 

WILLIAM JAMES MACNEVEK 
THOS. ADDIS EMMET. 

To Stephen P. Lemoine, Esq. 

New-York, March, 19, 1819. 
Gentlemen, 

For the honor conferred on me by the 
Shamrock Friendly Association, you will please to 
present to it, and accept for yourselves, my sinceresl 



thanks. The Address I delivered was written in 
haste, and while I was much engaged in professional 
pursuits ; whatever attention it may command is due 
to the kindness of the Society, I have no copy of it ; 
the original, such as it is, properly belongs to the 
Society) and is at its disposal, 
lam, Gentlemen, 



Fbw-r's, 



With esteem and respect, 

S. P.'LEMOINK 



To William James Macneven, and 
Thos. Addis Emmet, Esqrs. 



RATION, &c. 



-*&$$&»— 



Respected Auditors, 

We have assembled to celebrate the anniversary 
of an era, the most glorious in the annals of Ireland, 
and the most honorable to her inhabitants- — the 
Christian Religion, introduced by the missionary 
whose name will to the end' of time be commemo- 
rated on the 17th of March, was sent by Heaven to 
overthrow the Pagan Gods of Ireland, and on the 
scattered ruins of idolatry to erect, triumphantly, the 
standard of Divine Religion- — the standard before 
which every knee should bend- — the standard of the 
Cross ! What a cause of exultation !— what a cause 
for annual celebration ; and how much more is it en- 
hanced by the reflection, thai the descendants of 
Irishmen can proudly boast that their ancestors stood 
a solitary instance of a people, receiving without op- 
position, and with religious zeal, the doctrine of Re- 
velation. The introduction of the Christian Religion 
gave a new impulse to literature ; and we find Ire- 
land shortly becoming the college of Europe, and, as 
a literary constellation, diffusing the blessings of her 
industry to surrounding nations. That such an era 
should continue annually to be celebrated, cannot but 



meet the approbation of the good and the wise of 
all nations,- — That the descendants of Irishmen should 
annually assemble, and, putting on the mantle of their 
sires, should enter into the spirit of the times that are 
gone, and for a moment drown their sorrows in 
harmless festivity, is at once a proof of gratitude 
and of virtue. May the recollections of this day be 
as fresh in their memories as their own emblem, the 
4i evergreen shamrock." 

In whatever part of the globe Ju'shmen meet, and 
under whatever circumstances placed, they should 
never forget the virtues of their ancestors ; but whe- 
ther Erin's harp be tuned to sorrow, or touched to 
gaiety, they should spread the history of their coun- 
try before themselves and their children, as an exam- 
ple most worthy of imitation. In Ireland alone the 
celebration of this day is viewed as a crime, and often 
indirectly punished as such. Yet, even there, the 
people, forgetting the presence of spies, informers, 
and assassins, toast their country as it was, and un- 
mindful of the vial that to-morrow may pour upon 
them, in festive merriment drown their cares, their 
resentments, and their shamrocks, tendering the hand 
of forgiveness to their enemies, and the cup of hos- 
pitality to their friends. In other countries the cere- 
monies of St. Patrick's Day are interrupted only by the 
ordinary caution which influences suspicious rulers in 
their conduct towards their blind misused subjects. 
In one country alone can the Irishman, free from 
fear, enjoy, without alloy or danger, the happy feel- 



ings which the occasion inspires, and fulfil, to his 
heart's content, what he conceives the duties of his 
jubilee. In that country we are assembled — in that 
country I now address you — a country where tyranny 
can never raise her sceptre. Here we enjoy the rights 
which God and nature gave us — here is the only 
Ararat on which Freedom's Ark may rest — America ! 
the birth place of freemen — the home, the asylum, 
of the oppressed of all nations. 

Time was, and not long since, when the political 
situations of Americans and of Irishmen were nearly 
alike ; subjects of the same government, they were 
slaves of the same tvrant — sentiments of mutual 
sympathy early wedded their souls— they alike 
sighed for freedom, they alike deserved it— but they 
were not alike fortunate. Americans are as free as 
their own mountain oaks — the sons of Erin pine in 
chains — but we do not sympathise the less in their 
sorrows because we forget our own ; nor has their 
attachment to us ceased because we are in less need 
of it. The noble motive which united them remains, 
and should never be forgotten. On this day, and 
the ever memorable fourth of July, we will, as one 
people, and with one heart, renew the bond of friend- 
ship, rendered sacred by a remembrance of the days 
when together we met, fought, and conquered, on 
American ground, the enemy of both nations. 

Those days of battle, privations, and sacrifices, 
have produced an abundant harvest — the sun of 
freedom shines over the immense extent we inhabit. 



8 

and warms with its rays, more than ten millions of 
freemen. Every citizen sits in peace under his own 
vine— his altar and his fireside surrounded and pro- 
tected by laws, which it is his pride to uphold and 
support — laws which have heeu consecrated on the 
altar of freedom and independence-— his political 
rights are not narrowed by aristocratical distinctions 
■ — his conscience is not. dictated to by an established 
hierarchy— an equality of laws secures him against 
oppression, and an equality of privileges opens to 
merit the certain avenue to honor and reward. 

The foolish theory, that republican governments 
are unable to sustain themselves, falls prostrate be- 
fore the doctrine of experience. The philosophy of 
our Franklins, our Jeffersons, and our Adams's, the 
bravery of our Washingtons and our Warrens — the 
undaunted courage and untired perseverance of our 
citizens during the time, " which tried men's souls," 
gave a good earnest of what might be expected from 
the Decaturs, Jacksons, and Browns, of later days. 
The battles of Bunker-Hill, Saratoga, Trenton, and 
Yorktown, have been refought at Erie, Champlain, 
New-Orleans, and Baltimore. Republics have proved 
themselves lit for peace— fit for war. In the one, they 
outrival their adversaries and cotemporaries in diplo- 
matic address, and a knowledge of the arts of go- 
verning—in the other, they conquer their enemies by 
valour and virtue. 

The land of freedom extends from Mexico to Ca- 
nada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, present- 



9 

ing a surface sufficient to support the population of 
Europe. Liberty loses nothing by communication ; 
like the sun, it emits rays, numberless as they are ex- 
Iiaustless, and like that great luminary, it shines alike 
on the diamond, " whether it sparkles on the crown 
of royalty, or slumbers on the cross of the pilgrim ;' 3 
it sheds its influence and its blessings on all alike who 
do not reject them. We have then no motive to 
wish for its exclusive favors — -we cannot be less free 
because others are also free. It is our interest, it is 
our wish, that liberty should be co-extensive with 
the world. The Goddess has taken up her residence 
with us, and ere long, carried on the wings of our 
Eagle, bearing our national fasces, and lighted by 
the American stars, these emblems of strength, 
union, and light, she will carry the example of our 
country over every part of the Western World ? 
and then throughout the globe. IF WE ARE 
TO HAVE A MILLENNIUM, THE WORLD 
MUST FIRST BE FREE AND REPUBLICAN. 
It is a matter of surprise to me that there is yet 
one spot of North America which slavery claims as 
her own. Our Canadian neighbours are worthy of 
being free, and will be so ; the treatment of them 
by their Anglo rulers is not unlike those acts of our 
Royal Governors, which form a prominent cause of 
our complaints contained in the declaration of Inde- 
pendence. The late spirited resolves of the people of 
Canada bear no little affinity to those which imme- 
diately preceded our battle of Lexington. The peo- 

9 



pie of Canada sigh for freedom— the seed is sown— * 
already it grows— the saplin will be a tree — A TREE 
OF LIBERTY, which will overshadow whatever is 
habitable of our Northern continent. 

The mild and prudent policy of our government 
has bought freedom for Florida, and sent liberty un- 
stained with blood, and unsullied by crime, to the 
borders of Mexico. Liberty is fast striding over the 
Spanish provinces of the South — Buenos Ayres and 
Chili are free. To render the remaining provinces 
equally so, requires but the subsiding of some petty 
and local feuds which have their rise in ignorance, 
misconception, or ambition. The despised Ferdi- 
nand is without resources to carry on war — 20,000 
men, assembled on the Spanish coast, are without pay 
or subsistence, and without the prospect of being 
conveyed to their destination in South America — al- 
ready they desert, and return to their homes. 

The royal power in America is nearly extinct, and 
consists principally, or wholly, of those natives or re- 
sidents, who, acting under the authority of the King, 
lived upon the fat of the land, and extorted from 
enslaved subjects the means of enriching themselves 
—the hopes even of these harpies are nearly at an 
end— they gradually skulk into the independent ranks, 
and become patriots from necessity. The battle of 
Maipo broke the spirits and dissolved the hopes of 
the Royalists. Soon shall we hail all Americans as 
brethren' and freemen—from the frozen clime above 
Hudson's Bay to the stormy regions of Cape Hon 



n 

no slave will be found — no tyrant to impose his 1113k 
natural decrees ; the new world will give laws and 
liberty to the old ! The last thirty years of the his- 
tory of the Old World exhibit much to excite the 
astonishment of the sage and statesman, and to 
awaken the speculations of the philosopher, intent 
on the progressive well being of man, and devoted to 
the interests which are best calculated to secure it* 
The changes that have taken place within that period 
have commanded the awe, and fixed the attention of 
the world, whether seen in the desolating overwhelm- 
ing march of military power, or the subtle, silent, 
blasting influence of Machiavelian policy. Disastrous 
to our race have been the calamities that have ensued ; 
tremendous the revolutions that have assailed and 
jeopardized their happiness. In reviewing the pre- 
sent situation of the powers of Europe, and averting 
to the course of their apparent policy, have we not 
strong reasons to believe that ere long the thunders 
shall fall that have so long been gathering ? Can we 
believe that the people will tamely acquiesce in the 
complete demolition of political institutions, the 
works of patriots and of sages, consecrated and 
endeared by their usefulness ? Can we trust to pro- 
mises of moderation from despots ? The empire of 
the Czar is one that has within the memory of the 
present generation been introduced within the pale of 
the European community. 1 will say nothing parti** 
cularly of the extent of its dominions, and of the mil- 
lions that both in Asia and Europe bow the knee te> 



the Russian Emperor. 'Tis certain the undisguised 
measures of his government are such as cannot re- 
main unobserved, or their tendency misunderstood. 
Europe cannot regard without apprehension the man- 
ning of his fleets, and the general augmentation of 
his naval means. We will ere long discover how sa- 
cred are the bonds that bind the Russian Emperor to 
the Holy Alliance— how unquestionably pacific were 
the motives that led him to the execution of that 
novel and mysterious instrument. We have learned 
what confidence is to be placed in the professions of 
princes—what reliance on their promises of modera- 
tion and of peace. And what shall we say of the il- 
lustrious, the humbled, house of Austria ? — -oh ! how 
fallen from her commanding rank — how despoiled of 
her power — how robbed of the diadems with which 
ages had enriched her. Who can contemplate with- 
out melancholy emotion him whose sceptre was 
swayed by Charlemagne and Charles V. ; they were 
the arbiters and sovereigns of Europe ; he is the go- 
vernor of an inconsiderable territory ; the annals of 
the world no where furnish so solemn an instance of 
princely degradation, of imperial declension. The 
princes of the Germanic body have renounced his au- 
thority, and become sovereign and independent. I 
cannot believe it probable that a prince of descent so 
illustrious will cherish sentiments sincerely pacific, 
under circumstances of the most painful humiliation. 
Though a state of inactivity, (for it is not tran- 
lity,) at present exists in France, we have no 



security for the future peace in that country ; her. 
fetters have been removed ; the army of occupation 
is withdrawn — France is herself again ; and I shall 
not be surprised if ere long she may wish to 
repay the friendly visit she has been honored with 
by the allied army. 

France will not, I am convinced, from a just view 
of her national character, continue passive after 
the violation of her soil, and the curtailment of 
her territory. To recover what, in this respect, 
she had lost, was the ostensible object of her last 
effort. It will, at no distant period, be made with 
her an object final and indispensable. She may 
not stop here ; but, rising in her might and strength 
from the inglorious apathy in which she had 
been bound, the remembrance of former victories 
would animate her soldiery, and from their recent hu- 
miliation, an irresistible impulse will be found to dis- 
pute again with Austria and Prussia the GLORIES 
OF JENA AND OF AUSTERLITZ. I cannot be- 
lieve but that such a country as France, of a popula- 
tion ardent, dauntless, and patriotic, and who have so 
often been led in the resistless career of victory, will, 
ere long, start from her lethargy, and maddening at 
the foot that hostilely trampled on the integrity of 
her soil, draw on her associated foes the fell sword 
of vengeance and retribution. 

In the affairs of England a crisis seems approach- 
ing ; not one to raise her — she has already reached 
her zenith— she became the mistress of the ocean* — 



14 

her commerce covered the waters of the world — she 
possessed nearly every valuable island — she holds a 
World in the East Indies — but how changed ! The 
American tars have unlocked the ocean. America, 
Russia, and even France, put in their claims to com- 
merce, and threaten to become manufacturers — the na- 
tional bank no longer pays money — the national debt 
is enormous — taxation insufferably oppressive — a 
great proportion of the people are become paupers ; 
while those who can, emigrate to our happy land. 
The loyalty of Englishmen is reduced to the stan- 
dard of reason; they love their country, and the 
Biore so, because it owes its greatness to their un- 
wearied industry and ingenuity; but they are tired 
of Castlereagh and of Canning; — they owe no alle- 
giance to tyrants — no respect to those whose miscon- 
duct will produce the crisis that must foe near at 
hand. 

And what shall we say of Ireland ! — the days of 
her splendour are past — her name and fame are alike 
suspended — her songs of merriment have become 
sighs of sadness : — 

" The harp that once through Tara'-s halls^ 

The soul of music shed, 
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls^ 

As if that soul was fled." 

jjret, though humbled, her sons are proud ; though 
robbed, they are rich ; though manacled and de- 
graded, they are Milesian. 



15- 

la vain has the Sassenagh endeavoured to dena- 
tionalize the Irishman — in vain has he tried to barba- 
rize the natives — in vain has he warred against the 
Irishman's language — denounced his customs, or at- 
tempted to make him forget himself; and, above all, 
has he failed to make the sons of the Emerald Isle — - 
English !— Seven centuries of persecution have not 
damped their love of country — seven centuries of 
slavery have not made the natives savages. The 
Irish language has outlived twenty ages of inter- 
diction. The national habits and original customs 
remain, so whole — so unsophisticated — -that they 
stand evidence? as strong as holy writ, in confutation 
of the aspersions and errors of modern libellers and 
false historians. 

The history of the times was kept for many cen- 
turies with accuracy and minute attention. The 
national Fes, or Triennial Parliament, instituted 
about nine hundred years before the Christian era 9 
and soon after the Milesian migration, attended spe- 
cially and with ceremonious forms to the preservation 
of the historical annals of the kingdom. The na- 
tional heralds were men of the greatest erudition* 
of the most tried virtue, and approved patriotism ; 
they were liberally paid by the nation, and could re- 
tain confidence only by deserving it ; the records un- 
derwent the severest scrutiny by select committees, 
and afterwards publicly by the entire Fes ; if an 
error occurred it did not escape detection ; every thing- 
doubtful was expunged ; they were finally transcribed 
into the Register of Tarsu 



16 

ft was the policy of the British to destroy these 
records, and they too well succeeded ; but they 
could not he entirely effaced from the memory. The 
material facts have been handed down by oral tra- 
dition, with an accuracy and uniformity which must 
entitle them to credit. In the absence of every tra- 
dition, and of every record, we would yet read the 
nation's history in the character of its; present natives : 
their language is the same spoken by the Phoenicians 
more than three thousand years ago ; their manners 
and characteristic customs con be traced to a like 
origin. A colony of Phoenicians brought the use of 
letters into Spain, and the sons of Miiesius brought 
it to Ireland. Her numerous colleges were eviden- 
ces of civilization and learning, unknown in Britain ; 
the inhabitants of which were represented by the 
historians of the first Christian century as little bet- 
ter than barbarians. It was the interest of British 
governors and historians to blot from history, and, if 
possible, from memory, facts, which would by com- 
parison be so unfavourable to themselves. 

The Milesian migration is the event on which An- 
glo historians have specially dwelt with a view to 
disprove it ; yet, even ingenuity cannot invent any ar- 
gument of weight. The impossibility of such a 
voyage in so early an age is strongly relied on. Be- 
fore the fifteenth century the art of navigation un- 
derwent little improvement. At that period, Colum- 
bus drew the eyes of the world on him, by performing 
a voyage over a sea of immense extent. A previous 
attempt to navigate the Atlantic, by a clue west course. 



17 

had been abandoned as impracticable ; yet Columbus 
did cross it in safety, and performed a voyage more 
difficult and dangerous than that of Milesius. From 
Spain to Ireland it was possible to coast it, or keep 
within sight of land ; and if land had been lost sight 
of, its situation could scarcely be mistaken, and it 
might be easily regained*, 

But why not prefer to land in France or England ? 
Without a positive history of all the views and re- 
lations of the Spaniards with their neighbours, and 
With other nations, the question must remain un- 
answered ; nor is it material to establish more of 
history than the migration itself. It is possible that 
the relations between Spain and her French neigh- 
bours Were not sufficiently amicable. Milesius might 
have landed in Britain, and, disgusted by the man- 
ners, or driven off by the inhospitality of the natives^ 
pursued his voyage to a better or more hospitable 
land. He had possibly found the Britons of that 
day to be what their descendants were described by 
Csesar in ten centuries thereafter, " Feros inhospl- 
tesque." It is fact that the Milesian migration from 
Spain to Ireland did take place about one thousand 
years before the Christian era; the emigrants were, 
and their descendants now are, brave, courteous., 
and hospitable ; lovers of their country ; proud 
of ancestry ; lovers of letters, and emulators in prac- 
tices of virtue. The Irish monarchy, which was 
elective, continued, although in different families, of 
Milesian descent, until the time of the British in- 



vasion. It is an historical fact that, during the rergri 
of Elizabeth, the title to the crown of Ireland was 
maintained on the presumption (a false one however,) 
that the monarch was descended from a Spaniard, who 
brought a colony of his countrymen to Ireland before 
the time of Milesius. This is an admission of the 
possibility of migration from Spain to Ireland. 

If we have seen the people of Ireland during a 
period of two thousand years, composing a civilized 
and philosophic nation, promoting the art of govern- 
ment with prudence and success ; carrying their 
sword triumphantly across the ocean ; intimidating 
by their prowess and skill those who would fain in- 
vade them, and punishing the temerity of those who 
dared to attempt it ; if we have seen them diffusing 
learning and piety over a great portion of the known 
world ; sending teachers and religious missionaries to 
England, France, and other countries ; opening 
their numerous colleges and seminaries gratuitously 
to all foreigners who sought for education — how la- 
mentable the change which followed ; how base the 
historian that would blacken so fair a page ; how un- 
grateful the return that would make them slaves. 

The limits to which I ought to confine myself 
must, at present, leave untold the feats and virtues 
of Irishmen, the history of early Ireland ; and I 
must leave to be collected from that history, the events 
which followed the British invasion, with the excep- 
tion of such few remarks as your indulgence will- 
permit me to observe on~ 



In the twelfth century, Henry the II. of England, 
taking advantage of a dispute then existing between 
two Irish chiefs, accepted the invitation of one of 
them to take a part in the contest ; the history of 
this transaction presents no bad elucidation of the 
moral characters of the nations and their rulers. 

Dermod, King of Leinster, a man of voluptuous 
and infamous character, induced the wife of 0'Rcurke ? 
King of Breffeny, to elope with him. The national 
indignation was quickly roused. The chief mo- 
narch, Roderick O'Connor, espoused the cause of 
the injured. The infamous Dermod, deserted even 
by his own people, fled to Henry II. then in France ; 
he laid his crown and himself at Henry's feet. Ar- 
rangements were privately made between these two 
bad men for the invasion of Ireland, which took 
place soon afterwards, unexpected by the inhabitants. 
From such a beginning nothing good could be ex- 
pected, nothing: good did arise. The crime of Der- 
mod, which excited such general indignation in the 
twelfth century, is equally detested by the Irish of 
this day, as evidently appears from the late case of 
Guthrie against Sterne, which drew forth so strongly 
the public odium, and gave to the young barrister, 
Phillips, an opportunity to display his powerful, une- 
qualled eloquence. The conduct of Henry was eruej 
to his enemies, faithless to his friends, treacherous to 
all; he raised a nation in arms against him, and 
brought on himself and successors centuries of inqui- 
etude and war* Among those who opposed Henry 



with violent courage was the unfortunate O'Rourke* 
During the reign of Henry, the British had no com- 
mand beyond the pale which separated the conquered 
from the unconquered country. 

Before the reformation, a period of nearly 400 
years, there could be no difference on the score of re- 
ligion ; the people of both islands professed the same. 
The same spirit of persecution which disgraced the 
after ages, was, however, maintained towards Ireland. 
The people were first persecuted because they were 
Irish ; they were afterwards persecuted because they 
were papists. They were first persecuted through 
fear of themselves, and afterwards through a pre- 
tended fear of the Pope; first, because they would 
not bow to an usurper, and then, because they would 
bow to their God ! Is there one listening to me who 
resided in Ireland during the latter years of the past 
century ? If there is, 1 would ask him, were not free 
quarters to a licentious soldiery common ? Did they 
not destroy the properties, and even lives, of the in- 
habitants ? Did they not commit crimes at which 
humanity shudders, which history is unwilling to re- 
cord, and at which modesty shrinks from a recital ; 
are there not many of those here present who, in their 
own times, have seen their friends and countrymen, 
the innocent as well as the guilty, flying before an 
infuriated military and indemnified magistrates, 
hiding themselves in mountains, bogs, and caves, 
without any nourishment to subsist on, but the 
spontaneous productions of the soil ? 



m 

The reigns of sixteen monarchs who ruled before 
the reformation, heaped upon Ireland all possible ca- 
lamities ; the violence of their proceedings were fully 
equalled by those of fourteen monarchs (including 
Cromwell,) who ruled since the reformation ; religion 
had really nothing to do with the business ; it was a. 
mere pretext. The sacrilegious impudence which 
could set up the bible as the authority for persecution 
and robbery, and call on heaven to sanction violence 
and murder, cannot go without its reward. The 
people of Ireland, like the people of America, would 
not of themselves hate each other on account of a 
difference in religious tenets, nor war against each 
other for differing in the manner of worshipping their 
God ! Before this bane shall rest upon our country 
we must exchange our Munroe for a Prince Regent ? 
our Adams for a Castlereagh, our Jackson for a 
Lutrel- — a titled Carhampton, 

Before and after the reformation, misfortunes were 
alike the portion of Ireland, she was persecuted 
by protestant kings, and betrayed by catholic kings. 
The revolution of 1688, which was to bring peace 
and mild government to all his Majesty, King Wil- 
liam's, subjects, brought no peace — no happiness 
to Ireland. It commenced with a violation of the 
articles of Limerick, and in its progress, the subjects 
were robbed of their representative franchises. The 
reign of George the 111. robbed Ireland of its par- 
liament, and reduced it from nominal independence 
to the state of a dependent colony. What is the si- 



22 

tuatioii of Ireland under George the III ? Confis- 
cations, house-burnings, free quarters, man selling, 
imprisonment without accusation, transportations 
without trials, packing juries, breaking treaties, in- 
demnifying magistrates, transplanting the catholics 
Into Connaught, as Cromwell did of old. 

The bravery of the people in a late attempt to free 
their country, deserves eulogium-r-it is above it— it 
transcends my power to attempt, and it cannot be 
expected I could give you the volume of interesting 
facts connected therewith. I would, however, rescue 
the national character from the foul charge, that an 
Irishman's greatest enemies were his own country- 
men ; this originated with the enemy, and is not true. 
Ireland had her O'Brien and her Reynolds, but Ire- 
land was more united, more true to herself, than 
any other nation with whose history we are acquaint- 
ed. Ireland had her million of United Irishmen; 
let her enemies say how many, or rather how few, 
were the numbers of her traitors.* 



* In illuridation of my assertion, I gladly give place to the following cir- 
cumstance, which has been late'y communicated to me. 

It was in the early part of the year 1796, when two officers and nine men 
proceeded to break up a private distillery near a place called Cascarigan, in 
the county of Leitrim, Ireland. The seizing party was one of those petty 
•corps called police ; their duty was to aid in suppressing private distilleries) 
and generally in enforcing the Revenue Laws ; the service was often severe 
and always dangerous ; it, therefore, required men of desperate courage to 
perform it, and such were the persons selected for the occasion ; they were 
minute men, officered " a la militaire," perfectly subordinate to their com- 
manders, fully armed, and in uniform ; they were little armies that kept the 
country in perpetual disquiet, or alarm. The still hunters, eleven in number, 
arrived at tiie dibtillcry-j it belonged to a person of the name of Muldoon, 



23 

The host of men who signalized themselves in that 
contest and whose names are honorably connected 
with the appellation of United Irishmen, must now 
remain without particular mention ; in the attempt, 
injustice must be done to some, for who can remem- 
ber all, and selection is impossible. 

Who will not sympathize in the feeling of respect 
and admiration which their virtue and their valour 
universally excites ? 

They are men whom this whole nation, nay? 
whom the good and the wise of all nations delight to 
honor. In the defence of their country, scorning 
the inglorious terms proposed them, they valiantly 
fought and gloriously died. Bestowing thus their 



who, in preservation of his little all, dared to resist the seizure ; he became 
the victim of his rash intrepidity and instantly lay a corpse at the feet of these 
merciless executors of the law. Of the particulars of the engagement which 
followed hereupon, but few details can be here given. The friends and neigh- 
bours of Muldoon quickly assembled to avenge his murder, without fire arms, 
or other means of defence than such as they accidentally found, and quickly 
grasped — the foe fell — the eleven men died ; not one remained to tell 
the tale. This happened in a thickly inhabited neighbourhood ; hundreds 
mast have witnessed, or have been actors in this affair. As might be expect- 
ed, active measures were taken to discover the killers of the police ; a perse- 
cution followed the first failure, to unravel the transaction ; it was a severe one ; 
one that involved all the friends of Muldoon in total ruin. For two years, the 
storm raged ; a district, extending two miles on every side of Muldoon's cabbih-j 
was in some degree laid waste, every house was visited by the inquisitors, 
numbers were arrested ; men, women, and children, were driven to gaol, or 
guard houses; bribery, persuasion, threat, and torture, were fried without 
effect. A prisoner who carried about him the proof of his participation in 
the bailie, (the wound of a musket ball,) underwent the ordeal, and 
was found dead in the river on the morning after his arrest. The faith of 
Irishmen was not to be shook, the secret outlived every effort to discover it ; 
tired persecution at le.njth ssught repose, and further inquiry wr$s disc'oft- 
*iline<i. 



lives, they have obtained a name as deathless as their 
soul — ~a sepulchre that shall be most glorious — that 
shall be more durable than Corinthian brass- — not 
that in which their bones lie mouldering, but that in 
which their fame is preserved — -they have no inscrip- 
tions on their tombs ; but the memorial of them, better 
than all inscriptions throughout the whole world, is 
more durably impressed in the universal remembrance 
of the free ! One name, however, I must be permit- 
ted to mention ; the splendid living, will forgive it ; 
the honored dead, if they can think of, and hear 
us, will approve it. I could not wish for the people 
of Ireland a more refulgent moment, or for our- 
selves a happier sensation, could we witness the 
guardian angel of Ireland, bearing her flag triumphant 
through the skies, proclaiming to ail nations that Ire- 
land was FREE ! That the recording genius of Erin 
had inscribed the name of " EMMET" on the tomb 
of the martyr — peace to thine honored shade— but 
when liberty breathes again in thy regions — thy name 
shall be the rallying point — the polar star of free- 
men. 

It is fortunate for mankind, that against the sys- 
tematic tyranny of the old government, there is an 
antidote, that is, emigration ; and still more fortunate 
that he has not to roam, as a blind man, in search of 
a place of rest. Liberty beckons with one hand — 
beckons to the stranger and the persecuted, and 
with the other points to America. 



25 

It was in the year 1816 when migration to Arne«* 
rica was very great, and almost exclusively directed 
to the port of New- York. It was at this time that 
a British agent had officially undertaken the chari- 
table office of offering an asylum in Canada, or a 
free passage to such of his majesty's subjects as 
would return to their homes, and come again under 
the misrule of their oppressors. 

It was at this time also that this Society was 
formed, its members consisted of persons of all na- 
tions, and its philanthropic views were directed to 
the relief of emigrants, without regard to the country 
they came from. The inhabitants of Ireland formed 
the great bulk of emigrants, and were, with few ex- 
ceptions, the only applicants for relief; this gave 
rise to an erroneous opinion that the members were 
exclusively Irish— but the fact of my addressing you 
contradicts such a report. It has ever been a matter 
of regret to me, that many persons wish to draw 
the line of demarkation between the native and na- 
turalized citizens ; surely their interests are the same : 
and the situation of the man who at this day adopts, 
and swears allegiance to this country, cannot be 
thought different from that of Montgomery, and a 
host of patriots, who died in the first contest for in- 
dependence. During the last struggle, innumerable 
similar instances might be produced ; and the name 
of our own president Mc. Keon, will add laurels to 
American history, and shall remain honored and ad- 

4 



26 

mired as long as valour claims a tribute^ — as long as 
the Niagara rolls her blue wave. 

The love of country is not confined to the spot 
that merely gave us birth ; though the scenes of our 
youth may excite a thrill of pleasure, and their recol- 
lection, dwelt upon with lively emotion—though these 
natural ideas are often associated with the moral 
ones, and, like external signs, serve to ascertain and 
bind them ; yet, patriotism is the affection which we 
feel for that moral system or community which is 
governed by laws united on the basis of a common 
interest—this should be our love of country — it 
should swallow up all sordid and selfish regard — it 
should conquer the love of ease, of pleasure, and 
of wealth ; nay, even life itself should be sacrificed 
to maintain the rights— promote the interests — de- 
fend the liberty, honor, and happiness, of that coun- 
try which affords us protection in the hour of danger 
» — that country which shelters us from tyranny — that 
country in which the wreath of distinction is attain*- 
able by all. 

To you, fellow members, it must be an especial 
gratification, that, notwithstanding the machinations 
of our enemies, notwithstanding the misfortunes 
which many of you have encountered in your native 
countries, that you find means, by mutual association, 
of relieving the wants of your fellow beings ; let me 
urge you all to take an active part in the interests of 
this association ; let every one depend upon his sin- 
gle exertions ; remember that mankind is made up 



27 

ef individuals ; let none of you despair of doing 
much good if he please ; for though the influence of 
an individual upon your society be as imperceptible 
as a drop of rain in a Summer's shower, yet, like 
that, it is of some avail, and always proportionate 
to its exertion ; thus our duties will become apleasure s 
and friendship and chanty lead us on through the 
paths of happiness. Let not the demon of party 
scatter the firebrands of discord among us ; remem- 
ber that one common cause is ours — one common in- 
terest animates our exertions. But why should I 
urge you to action ; I read the sentiments of your 
hearts on your countenances ; and I am persuaded 
that every individual who hears me, rallying around 
the altar of liberty, is ready to exclaim, 

** FREELY WILL WE LIVE, OR WE NOBLY SWEAR 
TO DIE." 



FINIS, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS m 
Mill I III I !i II • 



021 342 148 7 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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